Adjustable hairnet



June 27, 1967 R. l. HAMER 3,327,321

ADJUSTABLE HAIRNET Filed May 7, 1965 FIG. I

FIG. 3

FIG. 5 FIG. 6

INVENTOR. RUTH I. HAMER ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,327,321 ADJUSTABLE HAIRNET Ruth I. Hamer, County Road, West Wareham, Mass. 02576 Filed May 7, 1965, Ser. No. 453,983 3 Claims. (Cl. 2198) My invention relates to hairnets. In particular, my invention relates to an adjustable hairnet for protecting hair arrangements of different shapes and sizes.

Devices for the protection of hair arrangements or coiffures are generally necessary to maintain the hair in place during periods when the hair is especially subjected to disarrangement, for example, during the sleeping hours. Such devices should be comfortable to wear and yet pro vide relatively firm protection for the hair arrangement. A netted type of hair protector is often found to be desirable since it does not confine the natural body heat of the wearer. Prior hair protect-or devices of the netted type, however, had a tendency to slip from the head of the wearer, especially during the sleeping hours and elastic bands or strings circling the head of the wearer were required to maintain the net in position. These bands or draw strings were often uncomfortable and did not fully succeed in maintaining the net in firm relation to the hair.

Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide an improved hair protector of the netted type. It is a further object of my invention to provide an improved hairnet in which the use of elastic bands, draw strings, or wire is obviated.

Recent developments in hair styling have led to the creation of a wide variety of hair styles ranging from the closely cropped, matted or bob style to the voluminous arrangement of hair known as boulfant or high style. In the past, several different sizes of hairnet were required to accommodate each of these hair styles. Further, the larger size of hair protector of the netted type often did not provide adequate protection for the hair arrangement, the hairnet being prone to slip more readily if made of a relatively stiff material or to crush against the hair arrangement if made of a relatively flexible material. Accordingly, it is another object of my invention to provide an improved hairnet which will accommodate a wide variety of hair styles. Yet another object of my invention is to provide an improved hairnet of relatively stiff material which will remain firmly in place when secured on the head of the wearer.

In accordance with my invention, I provide an adjustable tWo-piece bonnet of relatively stiff netted material whose size can be adjusted to the dimensions of the coiffure to be protected. The bonnet is secured to the head of the wearer by means of a strap of material, preferably netted, of sufiicient length to wrap around the lower edge of the head to hold the net firmly in place. The strap is secured to the bonnet, preferably by one or more pins through the strap and the bonnet, to hold the hairnet firmly in place.

It is a feature of my invention that the hairnet is ad justable to closely fit the coiifure to be protected. It is another feature of my invention that the hairnet is firmly secured to the coiffure without means of restraining elastics or wires.

Thhe above and other objects and features of my invention will be made more apparent below in the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof which has been selected for purposes of illustration and which is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of a bonnet con structed in accordance with my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view in perspective of the bonnet of FIGURE I adjusted to fit a coilfure of a particular height; FIGURE 3 is an illustration in plan view of a strap which is suitable for use with the bonnet of FIGURE 1; FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the strap of FIGURE 3 folded over once to secure the proper thickness for fastening to the bonnet;

FIGURE 5 is a view in perspective of the bonnet and strap being secured to a coiffure; and

FIGURE 6 is a view in perspective of the completed assembly of the bonnet and strap with the strap secured to the bonnet by means of a pair of pins.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGURE 1 shows a preferred type of bonnet in accordance with my invention. The bonnet 10 is in the form of a cylinder having a side wall 12 and a top 14. The bottom 16 of the honnet is open to allow the bonnet to be placed over the head of the wearer. The bonnet may readily be constructed by forming a first piece of material in a cylindrical configuration to form the side wall 12, the opposite ends of this first piece being joined together along the seam 18 by means of sewing, adhesives, or the like. The top 14 is then secured to the side wall around the upper perimeter thereof in a similar fashion. As may be seen from the drawing, the bonnet is made from a netted material to provide support for the hair arrangement; for this reason, it is preferred that the material used in the bonnet be relatively stiff. Although this stiffness can be obtained by forming the bonnet from a material having an inner core of fine Wire on which is desposed an outer shell of fiber or plastic material, it will be found that materials such as nylon provide suflicient rigidity for the bonnet without requiring wire cores; additional rigidity for the bonnet may be obtained by using a double layer of material for the side wall and the top.

FIGURE 2 shows a bonnet of the type shown in FIG- URE l with the lower edge 20 partially turned up in order to fit the desired height of the hair arrangement.

From FIGURE 2, it will be apparent that any coifiuretype may be accommodated, from the very close cropped relatively low bob cut to the relatively high arrangement of hair known as bouffant or high styling.

In FIGURE 3 there is shown a strap suitable for use with the bonnets shown in FIGURES l and 2. The strap 22 is formed from a double layer of material, the layers being joined along the seam 24. The material used in the strap 22 is preferably of the netted type and may, indeed, be the same type of material that is used in the bonnets of FIGURES l and 2. Although any desired material may be used for the strap, it will be found that a netter material provides greater frictional forces between the bonnet and the strap and thus tends to secure the bonnet more firmly against the coiffure. It will be apparent that the outside edges of the material used in forming the strap 22 may be folded over before sewing in order to prevent subsequent unraveling in use.

FIGURE 4 shows the strap of FIGURE 3 folded over once upon itself in order to provide additional rigidity for the strap. By thus folding the strap upon itself, a rela tively rigid band is provided for securing the bonnet to the coiffure. It will be apparent, of course, that it is not necessary to fold the strap in this Way and, if desired, the strap could be folded over on itself several times or additional layers of material may be used to provide the desired rigidity.

Referring now to FIGURE 5, the bonnet 10 is shown positioned against the coifiure 26. It will be noted that the lower edge 20 of the bonnet is folded up to fit the height of the coiffure and that the side wall 12 is folded over on itself as shown at 28 in order to conform the size of the bonnet to the coitfure. The strap 22 is shown as being positioned against the rear of the wearers head and slightly overlapping the lower edge of the bonnet. The edge 30 of the strap may then be wrapped around the bonnet and held in the front of the bonnet with one hand while the edge 32 is brought around to the same position in the front with the other hand to cover the edge 30. After the edges 30 and 32 are thus adjusted, the strap 22 may be secured to the bonnet and the coitfure by means of one or more pins as shown in FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 6 shows the bonnet and strap firmly secured in place by means of the pins 34. It will be noted that, due to the stifiness of the material of which the bonnet is formed, the bonnet does not conform exactly to the coiffure but does so only generally. When the head is reclined against a pillow during sleeping, the bonnet will press against the coiffure more firmly; since, however, the bonnet is formed of a relatively stiff material, it will be found that the bonnet as a whole, rather than isolated segments thereof, will tend to press against the coiifure. Thus any displacing force will tend to be exerted against the entire coitfure and the relative shifting of one segment with respect to another will thereby be minimized.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the bonnet may be formed from other than cylindrical shapes without departing from the scope of my invention. For example, the bonnet may be formed of cylindrical side walls as shown but may have a top that approximates the shape of a hemisphere inverted upon the side walls. Further, the strap 22 may be secured to the bonnet by means other than pins, for example, by any of a variety of self-sealers now in common use.

It will thus be seen that I have provided an improved hairnet for protecting hair styles. It will further be seen that my hairnet is simple to construct and easy and economical to use, the net being adjustable to fit any of the hair styles which the wearer may desire to use. The hairnet of my invention is also comfortable to wear and does not require elastics, wire, draw strings, or other similar retaining devices which may cause the wearer discomfort.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described and claimed a preferred embodiment of my invention, what I claim as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is: w

1. An adjustable two-piece hairnet for the protection of a bouflant hair style against disarrangement comprising a relatively stifi. netted cylindrical oversized bonnet having a side wall and a closed end wall, said side wall having a vertical height adapted to extend a substantial distance above a wearers head and having a circumferential dimension adapted to loosely embrace a normal size wearers head about the forehead, ears and rear head,

portion, said vertical height and circumferential dimension adapted to loosely and frictionally retain portions of the bouffant hair style within the interstices of the netted oversized bonnet, said side wall having a vertical front folded portion adjustably retained about a wearers head, a flexible elongated generally rectangular strap marginally embracing a lower portion of said side Wall and said vertical front folded portion to protectively retain said side wall about variable vertical and lateral hair arrangements of the bouffant hair style, and means for retaining said strap on said bonnet.

2. An adjustable two-piece hairnet as set out in claim 1 wherein said flexible rectangular strap is netted material.

3. An adjustable two-piece hairnet as set out in claim 2 wherein said means includes at least one removable pin.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,848,993 3/1932 Butcher 132-49 2,446,053 7/1948 Matarazzo 2197 2,759,191 8/1956 Berg 2-197 3,019,444 2/ 1962 Pollack et al 2-68 3,088,469 5/1963 Berryhill et a1. 2--174X 3,113,321 12/1963 Siegel 2-207 3,222,685 12/ 1965 Crouch 2-207 FOREIGN PATENTS 763,721 12/ 1956 Great Britain. 294,004 10/ 1953 Switzerland.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. KRYZMANICH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN ADJUSTABLE TWO-PIECE HAIRNET FOR THE PROTECTION OF A BOUFFANT HAIR STYLE AGAINST DISARRANGEMENT COMPRISING A RELATIVELY STIFF NETTED CYLINDRICAL OVERSIZED BONNET HAVING A SIDE WALL AND A CLOSED END WALL, SAID SIDE WALL HAVING A VERTICAL HEIGHT ADAPTED TO EXTEND A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE ABOVE A WEARER''S HEAD AND HAVING A CIRCUMFERENTIAL DIMENSION ADAPTED TO LOOSELY EMBRACE A NORMAL SIZE WEARER''S HEAD ABOUT THE FOREHEAD, EARS AND REAR HEAD PORTION, SAID VERTICAL HEIGHT AND CIRCUMFERENTIAL DIMENSION ADAPTED TO LOOSELY AND FRICTIONALLY RETAIN PORTIONS OF THE BOUFFANT HAIR STYLE WITHIN THE INTERSTICES OF THE NETTED 